Navigating the beer selection at your local liquor store is fairly straightforward -- or at least it used to be.

There's a cooler filled with mass-market domestic brands such as Budweiser and Coors, a section with imported beers the likes of Heineken and Corona, and shelf space typically reserved for "microbrews," which are widely perceived as beers from smaller, independent breweries with regional or more limited distribution.

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But as the craft-beer category continues to grow in popularity, sales volume and overall market share, there's been a steady move by big brewers looking to diversify their portfolios by tapping into the rapidly growing craft-beer market, as well as to satisfy the public's thirst for more flavorful beers and a wider variety of styles.

That push is causing concern among independent regional breweries such as Avery Brewing Co. of Boulder and Oskar Blues Brewery of Lyons and Longmont.

Craft brewers such as Avery Brewing Co. believe labels should accurately reflect who actually made the beer you re drinking. (File photo)

In trying to protect the craft-beer designation they enjoy over the big breweries, they point to intangible factors such as involvement in the local community.

"We have local restaurants, local relationships, grow our own local beef and brew local beer here in the Rocky Mountains and now in the small town of Brevard, N.C.," said Chad Melis, marketing representative for Oskar Blues. "Simply put, we're passionate people who love being a part of a community. A marketing strategy can't duplicate that hands-on, passionate approach, and there's a level of local engagement that you simply can't buy."

Says Joe Osborne, Avery's marketing director: "It all begs the question: What is craft and when does it stop being craft?

"What craft means to me is you're putting more love into your product. For us, it's about the beer first and sales second -- we want to make the best possible product with the highest quality ingredients out there.

"Could a big brewery actually do something that's craft? I think that's in the eye of the beholder."

According to the Boulder-based Brewers Association -- a not-for-profit trade association with a stated mission to promote and protect small and independent American brewers -- the craft-beer industry grew 13 percent by volume in 2011, and in the first half of 2012 volume grew by an additional 12 percent. Meanwhile, the overall beer industry was down 1.3 percent by volume and domestic non-craft was down 5 million barrels in 2011.

In a recent Fortune magazine article titled, "Big Beer dresses up in craft brewers' clothing," journalist Denis Wilson wrote that "big, global breweries have taken notice of the craft beer movement -- mostly because that's where actual growth exists in the otherwise stagnant beer industry."

As a result, the lines have become blurred and it's not always easy for consumers to discern exactly who's involved in making their beer just by reading the labels.

Pick up a six-pack of Kona Longboard Island Lager from Hawaii-based Kona Brewing Co., for example, and there's little on the packaging that hints at the brewery's parent company, Craft Brew Alliance, except for a listing of brewing facilities owned by CBA. Craft Brew Alliance was formed in 2008 in the merger of Redhook Brewing Co. and Widmer Brothers Brewing and is partially owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, a multinational beverage and brewing company headquartered in Belgium.

In addition to purchasing equity stakes in established craft-beer brands, another strategy for large brewing companies looking to capture craft-beer dollars is to launch a subsidiary brand to make and market craft-like beers. MillerCoors created Tenth & Blake Beer Company, for example, which includes brands such as AC Golden, Blue Moon and Leinenkugels, and Anheuser-Busch owns popular brands such as Goose Island and Shock Top.

But does it really matter who makes the beer as long as consumers enjoy it? It's a free market, after all, and taste is subjective.

The Brewers Association has found through comments from its membership and

polls posted on its website, craftbeer.com, and others such as Examiner.com that many consumers do care about who makes their beer for a variety of reasons, including a desire to support independent businesses, bolster the local economy and create local jobs.

There's also growing confusion among consumers regarding the matter, and for this reason the Brewers Association wrote an editorial -- it was recently published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch -- calling for greater transparency in the beer industry and issued a press statement to the same effect.

"It became apparent from our membership emanating this sentiment that it was time to insert our voice into the conversation," said Julia Herz, director of the Brewers Association's Craft Beer Program. "The lines are becoming blurred, and it's harder to tell on the beer-lovers' side who owns certain brands."

Herz stresses that the organization's call for transparency isn't tied to quality concerns but, rather, a perceived need to help consumers make a more informed choice in their beer purchases.

fuller-flavored beers and the ability to offer a variety of beer styles and beer brands, but we also want the industry to be forthright about who owns or makes those brands."

"We're not telling people what to drink," echoes Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association. "We're just trying to make the public aware of what's going on behind the labels. Just because it looks like craft beer doesn't mean that it is."

The Brewers Association defines an American craft brewer as small and independent, with an annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less and with no more than 25 percent of the company owned or controlled by an alcoholic beverage industry member that is not itself a craft brewer.

Glenn Knippenberg, president and co-founder of AC Golden Brewing Co., a subsidiary of MillerCoors that makes and markets Colorado Native, among other popular brands, offers another point of view.

"Personally, I disagree with the BA's definition of 'craft,' " he said. " 'Craft' has nothing to do with ownership. It has everything to do with creativity, artisanship and the quality ingredients selected. Basing the definition on ownership completely dismisses what all of the industry's talented, hard-working brewers are creating every day. It also insults craft-beer drinkers as status seekers or beer snobs vs. true beer lovers. They don't choose a craft beer because of who owns the brewery; they choose a craft beer in appreciation of its diversity of style, quality and artistry."

"I personally think you should have the name of your company on your product," Osborne said. "If people want to support small, local and privately owned businesses, then they should pay close attention to the labels.

"But if they're into the quality of the beer itself, then they should try as many beers as they can and decide for themselves."

And with greater transparency about who is actually making the beer -- say, a certification program for independent breweries to label their beer as such -- then the choice becomes all the more clear for consumers.

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